Safety lock for a stove

ABSTRACT

The safety lock is constructed as a self-contained unit with a T-shaped shaft rotatably mounted within a casing in opposition to a burner regulator. The end of the shaft carries a socket to receive a similarly shaped head on the regulator as well as an arm to seat within a recess in the casing. The shaft is biased by a spring outwardly of the stove housing and must be pushed towards the regulator in order to free the shaft from the recess in the end face of the casing. The force of the spring is sufficient to prevent small children from turning the shaft. A secondary lock is also provided to prevent any movement of the shaft.

United States Patent [191 Oliverio Oct. 9, 1973 SAFETY LOCK FOR A STOVE Primary Examiner-Henry T. Klinksiek [76] Inventor: George A. Oliverio, 146-03 25th Kenymkemy Rd., Flushing, NY.

[22] Filed: July 7, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 269,850 The safety lock is constructed as a self-contained unit v with a T-shaped shaft rotatably mounted within a casing in opposition to a burner regulator. The end of the 2% F8 iii gz zg 'g shaft carries a socket to receive a similarly shaped i 231/113 292 head on the regulator as well as an arm to seat within 1 0 137/384 a recess in the casing. The shaft is biased by a spring outwardly of the stove housing and must be pushed 56 R f d towards the regulator in order to free the shaft from 1 e erences' e the recess in the end face of the casing. The force of UNITED STATES PATENTS the spring is sufficient to prevent small children from 1,570,126 1/1926 Bruhn et a1. 251/292 turning the shaft. A secondary lock is also provided to prevent any movement of the shaft. 2, ,0 7 l ue er 10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures H \7 3. LS}

2'5 i ii Z2- 1 l4 lb 24- 1 I I5 33 I? Ill l1 I 36 3o 20 I i v i Hi 38 SAFETY LOCK FOR A STOVE This invention relates to a safety lock for a stove and more particularly to a safety lock for a burner regulator of a stove.

Heretofore, various types of safety locks have been known to insure against the turning on of stove burners by small children. In the simplier cases, the locks have utilized spring biased knobs which must first be pushed into the stove housing before the knob can be rotated. Such locks have, however, been constructed in a relatively complex manner in order to permit engagement of the knob shaft with a burner regulator. Furthermore,

, once depressed, the knobs have, in some cases, been difficult to turn from one setting to another, especially if there has been any accumulation of dirt after prolonged periods of use. In addition, in order to repair or ceive the ball hearing. The depressions thus serve to reclean some of these locks, it has been necessary to tear down the entire assembly and to thereafter reconstruct the lock in a piecemeal manner. This, of course, has been time-consuming and laborious.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a compact lock for a stove which is of simple unit construction.

It is another object of the invention to provide a safety .lock for a stove which can be permanently locked.

It is another object of the invention to provide a spring biased safety lock for a stove burner which can be easily manipulated by an adult.

It is another object of the invention to provide a safety lock for a stove burner which is constructed so as to insure against accidental actuation of a burner regulator by a child.

Briefly, the invention is directed to a safety lock of unit construction for locking the knob of a gas or electric stove against displacement by a small child. The lock includes a shaft which is secured to the knob and which has an arm extendingradially therefrom at one end. The lock also includes a casing whichrotatably mounts the shaft therein and which has a recess in an end face to selectively receive the arm of the shaft. The casing is secured in a suitable fashion to the housing of the stove. The shaft also has a socket at the same end as the arm to receive a similar shapedhead on a burner regulator. The knob and shaft are biased by a suitable means, such as a compression spring, outwardly of the casing so as to dispose the arm of the shaft in the recess of the casing when the arm and recess are aligned and to press the arm against the end face when the arm and recess are out of alignment.

In order to operate a burner, the knob is pressed into the stove to place the shaft in an interlocking connec tion with the burner regulator via the socket and head while at the same time displacing the arm of the shaft from the recess of the casing. The knob is then turned to actuate the burner regulator so as to adjust the amount of gas or electricity required for the burner. At the same time, the arm at the end of the shaft moves across the end face of the housing.

In order to facilitate movement of the arm across the end face of the casing the arm is provided with a spring loaded ball bearing which projects towards the casing end face and the end face is provided with a raceway groove for rollably receiving the ball bearing. In addition, the raceway groove includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart depressions to releaseably releasably lock the shaft in a desired position. With the depression spaced for about of the end face, the depressions can be used to act as temporary locks for various positions of burner control such as low, medium and high.

In order to deactivate a burner, the knob is turned to the off position in which the arm of the shaft'and the recess of the casing are again aligned. This allows the biasing means to pop the shaft out of the stove a limited extent while the arm of the shaft is drawn into the recess of the casingend face.

In order to provide a permanent lock for the knob, a key actuated lock means is provided on the stove. This lock means includes a locking pin within the stove which is reciprocally mounted for insertion into a radially disposed hole in the shaft as well as a means partially accessible on the stove exterior for moving the locking pin into and out of the hole. This latter means is actuated by a suitable key which can be stored at a remote point out of reach of a small child.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a safety lock according to the invention in an off position;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the safety lock in an on position; and

. FIG. 3 illustrates a view taken on line 3-3 of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 1, the safety lock 10 is incorporated into a front or top panel 11 of a stove of conventional construction. The safety lock I0 includes a shaft 12 which passes through the stove panel 11 and a hollow casing 13 which is secured to the interior of the stove panel I1 and which receives the shaft 12 in a rotatable relationship. The shaft 12 is coaxially aligned with a burner regulator 14 of conventional construction which carries a head 15, such as a hexagonal or other polygonal shaped head, on the face thereof. The head 15 is secured to the regulator 14 so as to cause rotation of the regulator when turned.

The shaft 12 carries a knob 16 at one end outside the stove panel 11 so as to be actuated thereby. This knob 16 is of any suitable structure and can be provided with a suitable dial 17 to indicate the various positions of the shaft I2 and the burner regulator 14 so as to indicate the condition of the burner (not shown). The opposite end of the shaft 12 is T-shaped so as to have a cross arm 18 which extends perpendicularly thereof. In addition, a socket 19 of a shape corresponding to the shape of the head 15 on the burner regulator 14, is formed in the shaft 12 ,to receive the head 15 of the burner regulator 14.

The casing 13 is of generally cylindrical shape and is provided with a substantially flat end face 20 having a retaining recess 21 disposed therein which is sized to selectively receive the arm 18 of the shaft 12. The recess 21 extends diametrically across the end face 20 of the casing 13 and is of a depth so as to receive a substantial portion of the arm 18, for example, the recess 21 is sized to receive the arm 18 in a flush manner.

Referring to FIGS. I and 3, a biasing means 22 is positioned within the casing 13 so as to bias the'shaft l2 outwardly of thecasing 13 in a direction away from the burner regulator 14. This biasing means 22 is in the form of an abutment pin 23 which passes diametrically through the shaft 12 and a compression spring 24 which abuts the abutment pin 23 at one end and the interior of the casing 13 at the opposite end. The spring 24 is of a size and strength to generate a biasing force as to impede compression of the spring 24 by a young child in the amount required to allow the arm 18 of the shaft 12 to be moved out of the recess 21 in the casing end face 20.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, in order to faciliate turning of the shaft 12 within the casing 13 after movement of the arm 18 out of the recess 21 of the casing 13, the arm 18 is provided with a spring biased ball bearing 25 which projects towards the casing end face 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the bearing 25 includes a spring 26 within a recess 27 of the arm and a ball 28 which is biased by the spring 27 out of the recess 26 so as to roll on the end face 20 of the casing 13. In addition, the end face 20 of the casing 13 is provided with a raceway groove 29 so as to guide the ball 28 therein. Also, this raceway groove 29 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart depressions 30 which extend for about 180 of the groove so as to releaseably receive the ball 28 therein. These depressions 30 can be correlated with the dial l7 and with suitable markings (not shown) on the stove panel 1 1 so as to indicate various positions of the burner regulator 14, such as low, medium and high.

Referring to FIG. 1, the shaft 12 is also provided with a radially oriented hole 31 within the confines of the casing 13. This hole 31 cooperates with a lock means 32 to insure against any movement of the shaft 12 relative to the casing 13. This lock means 32 is of a key actuated type and includes a locking pin 33 which is aligned with the hole 31 in the shaft 12 and which passes through a cut-out or opening 34 in the casing 13 so as to be moved reciprocally into and out of the hole 31. The pin 33 is mounted on a shaft 35 which is secured to a suitable cam follower 36 which is moved reciprocally by a cam (not shown) within a housing 37 of the lock means 32. A key 38 is used to actuate the cam from outside the stove. This key 38 can be stored in a remote position, such as, at a point above the stove, so as to be out of reach of small children.

Referring to FIG. 1, in order to operate a stove, the key 38 is first inserted into the lock means 32 and turned so as to withdraw the locking pin 33 from the shaft 12. Next, referring to FIG. 2, the knob 16 is pushed into the stove so as to move the shaft 12 longitudinally of the casing 13 towards the burner regulator 14. This allows the arm 18 of the shaft 12 to move out of the recess 21 of the casing 13 and to permit the hexagonal socket 19 to engage over the head 15 of the burner regulator 14 in an interlocking relationship. Thereafter, the knob 16 is turned to a suitable on" position so that the arm 18 of the shaft 12 is moved across the end face 20 of the casing 13 with the spring biased ball 28 rolling within the raceway groove 29. Should it be desired to set the knob 16 into a desired on" position, the ball 28 is moved into one of the depressions 30 in the groove 29 to releaseably hold the shaft 12 in place. In this way, an accidental turning of the knob '16 and shaft 12 can be avoided.

The spring 24 which biases the shaft 12 out of the casing 13 is of sufficient size so that the arm 18 of the shaft 12 is pressed against the end face 20 of the casing 13 with sufficient force to avoid a loose condition of the shaft 12. In this respect, the raceway groove 29 can be sized with respect to the amount of force pressing the arm 18 against the casing 13 to allow the ball 28 to be received within the raceway groove 29 while the arm 18 abuts the end face 20 of the casing 13.

In order to shut off the burner regulator 14, the knob 16 is turned to the off" position as shown in FIG. 1. This brings the arm 18 of the shaft 12 into alignment with the recess 21 in the casing end face 20. The spring 24 then pops the arm 18 into the recess 21 while at the I same time withdrawing the socket 19 from the head of the burner regulator 14. The shaft 12 is thus pushed slightly out of the stove panel 11. If desired, the key actuated lock 32 can then be actuated so as to bring the locking pin 33 back into the hole 31 in the shaft 12 to permanently lock the shaft 12 in place.

The overall dimensions of the lock are of relatively compact nature. For example, the casing 13 can be formed of a tubular cylinder with an outside diameter of about 2 inches. In addition, the entire lock 10 can be mounted within a stove so as to be assembled and disassembled as a unit. In this way, the cost of assembling a stove with a plurality of locks for the various burners can be reduced both in terms of time and labor. Further, should it be necessary to clean the environs of the stove about the locks or the locks themselves, each lock can be easily removed for such purposes and can be easily replaced and re-aligned with the burner regulators.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a burner regulator for a stove, said regulator having a polygonal shaped head thereon for rotation of said regulator; a safety lock comprising a shaft having an arm extending perpendicularly therefrom at one end thereof and a polygonal shape socket therein at said one end in opposed relation to said head to receive said head therein;

a casing rotatably mounting said shaft therein, said casing having an end face at one end and a recess disposed in said end face, said recess being sized to selectively receive said arm of said shaft therein;

means for biasing said shaft outwardly of said casing to dispose said arm in said recess with said arm and said recess in alignment to space said socket from said head of said regulator and to press said arm against said end face with said arm and said recess out of alignment and with said socket receiving said head therein; and

means at an opposite end of said shaft for moving said shaft into said casing towards said regulator head and for turning said shaft in said casing.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for biasing includes an abutment pin fixed on said shaft within said casing and a compression spring mounted between said abutment pin and said casing.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said shaft includes a dial knob.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said arm extends diametrically across said shaft and said recess extends diametrically across said end face of said casing.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said arm includes a spring loaded ball bearing projecting therefrom towards said casing and said end face of said casing includes a raceway groove for rollably receiving said ball bearing therein.

6. The combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein said raceway groove includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart depressions therein to receive said ball bearing therein.

7. The combination as set forth in claim 1 which further comprises lock means for locking said shaft against movement into said casing.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein said lock meansincludes a locking pin for insertion into a radially disposed hole in said shaft, and means for moving said locking pin into and out of said hole in said shaft.

9. The combination as set forth in claim 8 wherein said means for moving said locking pin is a key actuated cam.

10. A safety lock for a stove burner regulator comprising a shaft having an arm extending radially therefrom at one end and means at said one end for selectively engaging said regulator;

a casing rotatably mounting said shaft therein, said casing having an end face at one end and a recess disposed in said end face, said recess being sized to selectively receive said arm of said shaft therein;

means abutting said shaft and said casing for biasing said shaft outwardly of said casing to ,dispose said arm in said recess with said arm and said recess in alignment and to press said arm against said end face with said arm and said recess out of alignment; and

means at an opposite end of said shaft for moving said shaft into said casing against the force of said biasing means and for turning said shaft in said casing. 

1. In combination with a burner regulator for a stove, said regulator having a polygonal shaped head thereon for rotation of said regulator; a safety lock comprising a shaft having an arm extending perpendicularly therefrom at one end thereof and a polygonal shape socket therein at said one end in opposed relation to said head to receive said head therein; a casing rotatably mounting said shaft therein, said casing having an end face at one end and a recess disposed in said end face, said recess being sized to selectively receive said arm of said shaft therein; means for biasing said shaft outwardly of said casing to dispose said arm in said recess with said arm and said recess in alignment to space said socket from said head of said regulator and to press said arm against said end face with said arm and said recess out of alignment and with said socket receiving said head therein; and means at an opposite end of said shaft for moving said shaft into said casing towards said regulator head and for turning said shaft in said casing.
 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for biasing includes an abutment pin fixed on said shaft within said casing and a compression spring mounted between said abutment pin and said casing.
 3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said shaft includes a dial knob.
 4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said arm extends diametrically across said shaft and said recess extends diametrically across said end face of said casing.
 5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said arm includes a spring loaded ball bearing projecting therefrom towards said casing and said end face of said casing includes a raceway groove for rollably receiving said ball bearing therein.
 6. The combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein said raceway groove includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart depressions therein to receive said ball bearing therein.
 7. The combination as set forth in claim 1 which further comprises lock means for locking said shaft against movement into said casing.
 8. The combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein said lock means includes a locking pin for insertion into a radially disposed hole in said shaft, and means for moving said locking pin into and out of said hole in said shaft.
 9. The combination as set forth in claim 8 wherein said means for moving said locking pin is a key actuated cam.
 10. A safety lock for a stove burner regulator comprising a shaft having an arm extending radially therefrom at one end and means at said one end for selectively engaging said regulator; a casing rotatably mounting said shaft therein, said casing having an end face at one end and a recess disposed in said end face, said recess being sized to selectively receive said arm of said shaft therein; means abutting said shaft and said casing for biasing said shaft oUtwardly of said casing to dispose said arm in said recess with said arm and said recess in alignment and to press said arm against said end face with said arm and said recess out of alignment; and means at an opposite end of said shaft for moving said shaft into said casing against the force of said biasing means and for turning said shaft in said casing. 